NC Young Democrats endorse $11.35 minimum wage

RALEIGH, NC – On their statewide “Bootstraps Tour,” on Saturday, September 7 2013, the Young Democrats of North Carolina will call to increase the minimum wage to $11.35 an hour. The tour will highlight this and other solutions to fight poverty and create jobs in North Carolina, including what the General Assembly and our Governor could do to help working-class and poor North Carolinians pull themselves up.

“North Carolina should raise the state minimum wage to $11.35 to incentivize work and put more money into North Carolina’s economy. A North Carolina family of four needs a breadwinner working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for $11.32 an hour just to be at the federal poverty line ($23,550). $7.25 just doesn’t cut it,” said YDNC president Sam Spencer in a statement. “All North Carolinia citizens deserve the dignity of an above-the-poverty-line job, and North Carolina taxpayers deserve a workforce that can lift itself up.”

“There has never been a more important time to highlight increasing poverty across our state,” said YDNC National Committeeman Justin Conley. “North Carolina’s Republican-controlled General Assembly has ‘cut off the bootstraps’ of the working-class and the poor by passing bills to kill jobs and rip holes in the social safety net. Public education – the most important path out of poverty – is on the chopping block.”

The tour will focus on poverty across North Carolina, and address the State’s inaction on the issue. “As poverty is increasing in every part of North Carolina – even suburban areas – the Republican-controlled General Assembly has done nothing to create jobs,” said YDNC National Committeewoman Akilah Ensley. “Instead, they’ve focused on divisive social issues and bills that make it harder for North Carolina’s minorities, students, and seniors to vote.”

Young Democrats chapters in counties from Macon to New Hanover will be participating and helping YDNC reach a goal of collecting 5,000 food items for local food banks across the state. A caravan of Young Democrats will travel across the state from Franklin to Fort Fisher. Stops on the tour include Franklin, Asheville, Forest City, Charlotte, Greeensboro, Raleigh, Greenville, and Wilmington, in that order. Those interested in attending or donating canned goods can sign up at http://www.ydnc.org.

Founded in 1928, the Young Democrats of North Carolina (YDNC) is an organization for all registered Democrats under 36, including College Democrats and Teen Democrats. YDNC is one of the oldest political organizations in our state, and is the founding chapter of the Young Democrats of America. YDNC is the official youth auxiliary of the North Carolina Democratic Party.